New Release Books by Sean Martin

Ready to up your grilling game? This cookbook by a pitmaster and a sommelier will turn your backyard barbecue into the tastiest place to be--with recipes that celebrate smoked and grilled food (and the wines that pair best with them). Every region has its barbecue, grill, and smoking food traditions. Now the Pacific Northwest can claim its place at the table with these recipes developed by sommelier Mary Cressler and pitmaster Sean Martin from Portland, Oregon. Not as sauce-dependent as Kansas City, not quite as beef-obsessed as Texas, these dishes bring the smoke to wild salmon, ribs and steaks, fresh apples, heirloom tomatoes, nuts and beans, and even chocolate pot de crème. Rubs and glazes draw on Northwest flavors such as soy sauce, rosemary, and wild blackberries. Whether the equipment at home is a basic kettle grill or a professional-grade outfit with an electric wood feeder, the instructions will turn even novices into masters of the grill. And true to the region, these recipes pair with wines such as pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon instead of the customary can of beer.

Ready to up your grilling game? This cookbook by a pitmaster and a sommelier will turn your backyard barbecue into the tastiest place to be--with recipes that celebrate smoked and grilled food (and the wines that pair best with them). Every region has its barbecue, grill, and smoking food traditions. Now the Pacific Northwest can claim its place at the table with these recipes developed by sommelier Mary Cressler and pitmaster Sean Martin from Portland, Oregon. Not as sauce-dependent as Kansas City, not quite as beef-obsessed as Texas, these dishes bring the smoke to wild salmon, ribs and steaks, fresh apples, heirloom tomatoes, nuts and beans, and even chocolate pot de crème. Rubs and glazes draw on Northwest flavors such as soy sauce, rosemary, and wild blackberries. Whether the equipment at home is a basic kettle grill or a professional-grade outfit with an electric wood feeder, the instructions will turn even novices into masters of the grill. And true to the region, these recipes pair with wines such as pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon instead of the customary can of beer.

Even before recorded history began, disease has plagued human civilisations, claiming more lives than natural disasters and warfare combined. Using an interdisciplinary approach, Sean Martin's A Short History of Disease chronicles the historical and geographical evolution of infectious and non-infectious diseases, from their prehistoric origins to the present day, offering a comprehensive, accessible guide to ailments.

Andrei Tarkovsky is the most celebrated Russian filmmaker since Eisenstein, and one of the most important directors to have emerged during the 1960s and 70s. Although he made only seven features, each one was a major landmark in cinema, the most well-known of them being the mediaeval epic Andrei Rublev - widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time - and the autobiographical Mirror, set during the Russia of Stalin's purges in the 1930s and the years of stagnation under Brezhnev. Both films landed Tarkovsky in considerable trouble with the authorities, and he gained a reputation for being a tortured - and ultimately martyred - filmmaker. Despite the harshness of the conditions under which he worked, Tarkovsky built up a remarkable body of work. He burst upon the international scene in 1962 with his debut feature Ivan's Childhood, which won the Golden Lion at Venice and immediately established him as a major filmmaker. During the 1970s, he made two classic ventures into science-fiction, Solaris, regarded at the time as being the Soviet reply to Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and later remade by Steven Soderbergh, and Stalker, which was thought to have predicted the Chernobyl disaster. Harassed at home, Tarkovsky went into exile and made his last two films in the West, where he also published his classic work of film and artistic theory, Sculpting in Time. Since his death in Paris in 1986, his reputation continued - and continues - to grow. Sean Martin considers the whole of Tarkovsky's oeuvre, from the classic student film The Steamroller and the Violin, across the full-length films, to the later stage works and Tarkovsky's writings, paintings and photographs. Martin also seeks to demystify Tarkovsky as a 'difficult' director, whilst also celebrating his radical aesthetic of long takes and tracking shots, which Tarkovsky was to dub 'imprinted' or 'sculpted' time, and to make a case for Tarkovsky's position not just as an important filmmaker, but also as an artist who speaks directly about the most important spiritual issues of our time.

Even though this book Almost Tomorrow is fictional, it is based upon the life story of an Anglo-Indian lady from Goa prepartition of India oriented around 1947 and, there afterwards, includes tales of the lives of her extended family. Parveen and her younger sister Bulbul had, through no fault of their own, ended up trapped for life as bonded labourers in the brick-kiln industry in Pakistan. Their drama began at an early age when their family moved from Goa to a small railway town called Kamoke situated in rural Punjab. The years just after World War 2, with the partition of the Indian subcontinent and the formation of Pakistan and India as separate independent nations, came into being. An account of one single massacre in the Kamoke railway station provides the reader with a window into what might possibly have happened to a portion of approximately 1.5 million people who were murdered or killed during the mayhem. Also, that year, the mighty British Raj was preparing to finalise their occupation of the Indian subcontinent and return to Great Britain. They had repulsed a Japanese massive attempt to invade Northeast India from Burma. The British army, along with the support of a couple of Indian regiments and American air support, suppressed the advance. One of Lord Louis Mountbatten's chief contribution was to coordinate the partition on behalf of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. He also was responsible for drawing up the new international (Radcliffe Line) boundary between the two new countries. The agreement went ahead on the 14-15 August 1947 in the company of Prime Minister Nehru representing India and Jinnah, the 'Quaid-E-Azam' (Founder of the Nation), representing Pakistan.

It has become common for people to look back and write letters to their younger selves based on their life experiences. Well, instead of writing a letter to his teenage self, this 55-year old dad, married at 42 and a first-time father at 50, created a book of letters to his four-year old twin boys describing his life experiences. My life has had a series of ups and downs, many of the downs self-inflicted but many of the ups resulting from learning and growing from my mistakes. Along the journey that featured loneliness and sadness for the majority of my first three decades of life, I met the person affectionately known as "Mama" when I was 40 just months after I decided to finally change my outlook on the world and change the behaviors the had held me back from fulfilling my potential both personally and professionally. Our journey to becoming parents took us down a whole new path, one of dealing with years of fertility issues and set the bar high on the topics of determination, perseverance, education and the importance of never, ever, giving up. I set out to create a project that taps into the most common aspects of life in our society and how my experiences related to everyday circumstances in hopes that if Liam and Noah are ever in a similar situation, they have either a good lesson to learn from their Daddy's successes or can gain knowledge from one of my failures.

Our Fathers' Fate Is an account of my adventures or misadventures, is better late than never! And I hope to share through it the fabulous hospitable times I spent submerged in cultures and visualise the magnificent places and enjoy the humorous and sad events that accrued in my life's journey a part of my past, present and shaping my future. I have falling into the magical cycle of Our Fathers' Fate and have become a spoke in the wheel of the cycle of life. Irish sign of endearment and respect May the road rise to greet you And may the wind always be at your back And may you be in heaven An hour before the devil knows you are dead

Catharism was the most successful heresy of the Middle Ages. Flourishing principally in the Languedoc and Italy, the Cathars taught that the world is evil and must be transcended through a simple life of prayer, work, fasting and non-violence. They believed themselves to be the heirs of the true heritage of Christianity going back to apostolic times, and completely rejected the Catholic Church and all its trappings, regarding it as the Church of Satan; Cathar services and ceremonies, by contrast, were held in fields, barns and in people's homes. Finding support from the nobility in the fractious political situation in southern France, the Cathars also found widespread popularity among peasants and artisans. And again unlike the Church, the Cathars respected women, and women played a major role in the movement. Alarmed at the success of Catharism, the Church founded the Inquisition and launched the Albigensian Crusade to exterminate the heresy. While previous Crusades had been directed against Muslims in the Middle East, the Albigensian Crusade was the first Crusade to be directed against fellow Christians, and was also the first European genocide. With the fall of the Cathar fortress of Montsegur in 1244, Catharism was largely obliterated, although the faith survived into the early 14th century. Today, the mystique surrounding the Cathars is as strong as ever, and Sean Martin recounts their story and the myths associated with them in this lively and gripping book.

The Knights Templar were the most powerful military religious order of the Middle Ages. Formed to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land, they participated in the Crusades and rapidly gained wealth, lands and influence and were answerable to none save the Pope himselffirst bankers, and invented the modern banking system that is still in use today, and were also involved in exploration and engineering.

Following on from Seoul Mates, Tears and Tragedy tells the tale of Teresa 'Terri' Outwell. There was a reason she gave Brooke the advice she did, and this book lets readers in on that reason.From the cover:"The course of true love doesn't always run smoothly. Just ask Teresa 'Terri' Outwell. Footloose and carefree, she is surprised to find love when she wasn't expecting or looking for it. And while it may not be a perfect love everlasting, there is always the chance that lightning can strike twice."

Gnosticism is the name given to various religious schools that proliferated in the first centuries after Christ, nearly becoming the dominant form of Christianity, but was eventually branded as heretical by the emerging Christian church. The long and diverse history of Gnosticism is recounted here, as well as reasons for its continued relevance today. Although some Gnostic beliefs are close to mainstream Christianity, others examined here include that the world is imperfect because it was created by an evil god who was constantly at war with the true, good God; that Christ and Satan were brothers; that reincarnation exists; and that women are the equal of men. Also covered is the influence Gnostics had on the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, psychologist Carl Jung, the Existentialists, the New Age movement, and writers as diverse as William Blake, W. B. Yeats, Albert Camus, and Philip K. Dick.

The Black Death is the name most commonly given to the pandemic of bubonic plague that ravaged the medieval world in the late 1340s. From Central Asia, the plague swept through Europe, leaving millions of dead in its wake. Between a quarter and a third of Europe's population died, and in England the population fell from nearly six million to just over three million. Sean Martin looks at the origins of the disease and traces its terrible march through Europe from the Italian cities to the far-flung corners of Scandinavia. He describes contemporary responses to the plague and makes clear how helpless the medicine of the day was in the face of it. He examines the renewed persecution of the Jews, blamed by many Christians for the spread of the disease, and highlights the bizarre attempts by such groups as the Flagellants to ward off what they saw as the wrath of God.

Alchemy has traditionally been viewed as 'the history of an error', an example of medieval gullibility and greed, in which alchemists tried to turn lead into gold, create fabulous wealth and find the elixir of life. But alchemy has also been described as 'the mightiest secret that a man can possess', and it obsessed the likes of Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle and many of the founders of modern science. Book jacket.

Come along and explore the quirky wonderfulness that is Canadian cuisine, as Doc and Raider guide you through the processes for making white pine nettle tea, fiddlehead soup, and the mysterious tire sur la neige. Over a hundred recipes that will delight and captivate your tastebuds, as only truly Canadian cooking can.

The saga continues...Exiled, the sorcerer worm, Scabb and his minions are forgotten, as King Brian and his son, Prince Boru, continue on an amazing journey through the forest. Filled with awesome sights and experiences, the royal pair meet helpful friends along the way.

The beginning.... Imagine a small knoll in a corner of the world covered with turtles, living in peace and harmony with all who surround them... When the Kindly King Brian and his son, Prince Boru start off on an exciting journey, they soon find themselves in a dark world where friends are scarce.

Re-evaluates the way Jews lived among Poles without abandoning their Jewish heritage. By focusing on the history of the Jewish press, schools and other cultural institutions, the book examines how Jews in the same community created varying ethnic and national identities in order to cope with the demands of living in the majority Polish society. Being based on sources in Yiddish, Polish and Hebrew makes the book a thorough study of one of Poland's largest Jewish communities.

The term 'New Wave' conjures up images of Paris in the early 1960s: Jean Seberg and Jean Paul Belmondo, the young Jean-Pierre Leaud, the three protagonists of Jules and Jim capering across a bridge, all from the films of French filmmakers Jean-Luc Godard and Fran ois Truffaut.The impact of the French New Wave continues to be felt, and its ethos of shooting in real places, with non-professional actors and small crews would influence filmmakers as diverse as John Cassavetes and Martin Scorsese to Lars von Trier's Dogme 95 movement, all of whom sought to challenge the dominance of traditional Hollywood methods of both filmmaking and storytelling.But the French were not the only new wave, and they were not even the first. In New Waves in Cinema, Sean Martin explores the history of the many New Waves that have appeared since the birth of cinema, including their great forebears the German Expressionists, the Soviet Formalists and the Italian Neorealists. In addition, Martin looks at the movements traditionally seen as the French New Wave's contemporaries and heirs, such as the Czech New Wave, the British New Wave, the New German Cinema, the Hollywood Movie Brats and Brazilian Cinema Novo. The book also covers other new waves, such as those of Greece, Hungary, documentary - Cinema Verit(r) and Direct Cinema - animation, avant garde and the so-called No Wave filmmakers.New Waves in Cinema also explores the differences - and similarities - between the concept of a 'new wave' and a national cinema, citing, among others, the example of the new Iranian cinema, which has given us directors as important as Abbas Kiarostami and the Makhmalbaf family, examines resurgent trends in the national cinemas of Mexico, Japan, American independent cinema and concludes with an examination of the most celebrated movement of the 1990s and 2000s, Dogme 95.New Waves in Cinema makes a convincing case for the necessity for the continued existence of new waves and national cinemas in the face of Hollywood and American cultural imperialism."

Gnosticism - derived from the Greek word gnosis, to know - is the name given to various religious schools that proliferated in the first centuries after Christ and, at one time, it almost became the dominant form of Christianity. Yet some Gnostic beliefs derive from the older Mystery traditions of Greece and Rome, and the various Gnostic schools came to be branded as heretical by the emerging Christian church. Indeed, although some Gnostic beliefs are close to mainstream Christianity Gnosticism also held that the world is imperfect as it was created by an evil god who was constantly at war with the true, good God; that Christ and Satan were brothers; that reincarnation exists; and that women were the equal of men As a result, the Gnostics held the Feminine Aspect of God - whom they addressed as Sophia, or Wisdom - in very high regard. They also stressed that we each have a spark of the Divine inside us which, when recognised and developed, will ultimately liberate us from the prison of the material world. Although largely stamped out by the Church by the sixth century, Gnosticism survived underground through groups such as the Bogomils and the Cathars, and influenced the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the psychologist Carl Jung, the Existentialists, the New Age movement and writers as diverse as William Blake, W.B. Yeats, Albert Camus and Philip K. Dick. In this book, Sean Martin recounts the long and diverse history of Gnosticism, and argues for its continued relevance today.

Many a community theater or high school drama teacher has faced an audience expecting the bright lights of Broadway at pennies a head. Martin, a designer with over 200 productions to his credit, shows producers and directors how to whittle down large scale plays and musicals to fit their size. He explains design keys, the basics of stage design, the clues in a script that will lead to a fresh production, and examples of the staging of big plays, musicals and even grand opera at a pauper's budget. He begins with seven case studies and continues with a portfolio designs from classic musicals, straight plays, and opera, giving readers hundreds of ideas for their productions. In a very good final chapter, Martin puts the theater in its living contexts, which include guts and magic. Book News, November 2008

The Black Death is the name most commonly given to the pandemic of bubonic plague that ravaged the medieval world in the late 1340s. From Central Asia the plague swept through Europe, leaving millions of dead in its wake. Between a quarter and a third of Europe's population died. In England the population fell from nearly six million to just over three million. The Black Death was the greatest demographic disaster in European history. Sean Martin looks at the origins of the disease and traces its terrible march through Europe from the Italian cities to the far-flung corners of Scandinavia. He describes contemporary responses to the plague and makes clear how helpless was the medicine of the day in the face of it. He examines the renewed persecution of the Jews, blamed by many Christians for the spread of the disease, and highlights the bizarre attempts by such groups as the Flagellants to ward off what they saw as the wrath of God. His book is a vivid and dramatic account of one of the great catastrophes of history.